The study of alchemy is that of magical chemistry. Use of recipes is wise, and caution should be taken when working with especially reactive substances. Knowledge of both herbalism and magizoology are extremely useful in this branch, as they help in understanding the ingredients used in many potions and where to find them if they are not available in a shop.
Areas of Study[]
Crafting Potions/Elixirs[]
The making and appropriate storage of various alchemical concoctions. It is much like baking: precise measurements are usually required to make the magic happen. Imbuing the potion with magics or certain spells is often necessary, which is why it is a magical area of study all of its own, separate from Artifice.
Magical cooking is one sub-branch of this area of study, and is a popular class at Trefoil Academy!
To craft a potion, one needs the appropriate reagents and needs to follow the correct steps. The Academy Crafting Compendium Book can be found in the library and has many recipes on it freely available to students, and other recipes can be found.
An example recipe of a potion is the brewing of Focus Tea, which can increase the drinker's concentration but does tend to reduce their speed.
| Focus Tea: |
| For the next 15 minutes, drinker gains +2 to all success rolls to cast/hit and +2 to Mental resistance rolls, but -2s (10') speed and -5 to their initiative. Counteracts rage effects. |
| 1 sprig Rosemary |
| 1 sprig Stellar Lavender |
| 1 tuft Griffon Tail-Hair |
Detection and Alchemical Safety[]
This area is about various protections a mage can take to prevent accidents, or detecting if someone has put sneezing powder on your doughnut. Cross-contamination risks are thoroughly covered, as is basic lab safety and proper gear for preventing inhalations, eye damage, skin damage, or pipe corrosion and subsequent mutations of wildlife in a nearby pond. Proper disposal so that potions do not leech through the soil and into the ground water is a vital but often overlooked aspect of alchemy.
(Game off: you must actively attempt this detection skill unless you have it as one of your limited innate talents. The roll you must beat to check for a potion/powder is sometimes listed on the item for GM reference, and is often an Insight skill check).
Potion/Elixir Identification[]
This area is important for those working with already-crafted potions, often those seeking to become merchants or apothecaries. Identifying potions by scent, color, grit, viscosity, and litmus-tests as well as magical traces is a valuable skill, as trying to identify them through tasting can be disastrous!
(Game off: this is often an Insight skill check, and may be aided by certain kinds of equipment such as Masterwork Alchemist Tools).
Veneficum[]
While the ingredients for poisons may be found in a common garden as ornamental plants or even in the seeds of common fruits, poisons are typically not taught by most schools for various safety and local legality reasons, except where advised not to mix certain ingredients or to ever consume certain objects, or to touch certain poisonous amphibians, or to take extreme precautions with venomous creatures. Those seeking poisons for combat use are advised caution in the shadier alleyways where such things are sold alongside cursed objects and necrotic-tainted artifacts.
Cures and curse-breaks can be wrought from many of these same reagents, however, which makes reagents like Kitsune Mitt, Basilisk Eggs, or Distilled Salamander Fumes not as questionable to have in an apothecary.
Mastery Talent[]
The most-skilled potioneers are magical chemists who are often able to sense if a magical potion or powder is in a container or on a surface, after so many years of practice. Most also are able to identify potions they are familiar with easily, even if spoiled, and some are able to break down a potion to reuse it for other recipes.
Known Academy Professors[]
- Cero
- Please add as their names are discovered!